Pages

26 September 2012

Wedding Wednesday: A Royal Wedding in Brunei

The past week brought us the most glittering royal wedding we'll see this year: that of Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah and Pengiran Haji Muhammad Ruzaini. The daughter of the Sultan of Brunei and Queen Saleha, the 32-year-old princess and her 29-year-old groom both work for the government.

The lengthy schedule of wedding activities and ceremonies was spread out over a number of days. For a ceremony ahead of the wedding, the bride sparkled in lavender with a diamond tiara previously seen on other Brunei brides including her sister-in-law Sarah, wife of the Crown Prince.

For the wedding, she dressed in sparkling gold. She carried a bouquet of jeweled flowers and wore yet another diamond tiara. Don't miss the equally snazzy groom's outfit - the level of couture work is most evident in the bride's ensembles, but the groom's are works of art on their own.

The banquet later on required not just a change of clothes but a change of tiara as well, to one seen on her mother in the past. The shock of color from the emeralds on the background of the dress and veil works quite well - it's really the only outfit here where you can truly tell just how bejeweled she is. The strictly diamond jewelry tends to fade into the background on her already heavily ornamented outfits.

Royal weddings in Brunei always have an air of being impressive for the sake of, well, being impressive - and the focus often lands on how much the Sultan spent on the festivities - but at the same time they're full of ceremony and tradition. It may cross into the territory of Too Much for some, but any wedding that involves multiple tiaras for the bride is okay by me.